The Cleveland Browns are not picking up the fifth-year contract option, worth $22.117 million, on newly acquired quarterback Kenny Pickett. The report first came from Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com.
This comes after the Browns drafted two rookie quarterbacks, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, in the 2025 NFL draft. Not that there was any thought to picking up the option to begin with.
NFL teams face an upcoming deadline to exercise the fifth-year contract option on first-round picks selected in the 2022 NFL Draft. The new Browns quarterback was originally selected with the 20th overall pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022. Although Pickett no longer plays for the Steelers, who originally drafted him, the Browns inherited this option after acquiring his rookie contract in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. Given his expensive fifth-year price tag and the uncertainty surrounding his role with the Browns, the decision not to pick up the fifth year of his contract is no surprise.
This season, Pickett will earn $2.623 million while playing out the remainder of his current contract in Cleveland. Now that he’s officially entering the final year, Pickett understands that the 2025 season is his chance to earn his next contract – and doing it from the bench won’t be easy. With some fresh rookie competition behind him, we’ll see how the former first-round quarterback manages the pressure.